Impacts of Inclusive, Community-Enaged Research

Researchers plan to engage with, listen to, and learn with Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities towards acknowledging and addressing systemic racism and legacies of discriminatory practices in urban ecosystem science, policy, and management. Further, we will examine how conducting inclusive research changes how research is done and even the researchers themselves over the long term, to create more equitable long-term urban nature research outcomes. Learn more.

Partner Spotlight: Conversational Reflections on Rambles and Art-Science Engagements

People sitting around a table sewing and talking.

July 25, 2026

A conversation with former MSP LTER artists-in-residence Jessie Merriam, now the MSP LTER Community-Engaged Research Coordinator, and Kimberly Boustead, local artist in the Twin Cities

The MSP LTER's Community Engagement Assessment team studies how inclusive research shapes both scientists and the communities where they do their work. From 2023 to 2025, artists-in-residence Kim Boustead and Jessie Merriam helped bring that work to life, fostering reciprocal relationships between researchers and the Twin Cities community through art and facilitated conversations. In this interview, Kim and Jessie reflect on their work with the MSP LTER over the past two years, the pitfalls and triumphs of community-engaged research, and look to what’s ahead.

Urban Eco-Narratives

Two people walking outside in the woods.

July 24, 2023

By Nancy Cook, Writer, Teaching Artist, and Director of the Witness Project

What can scientists and storytellers learn from each other? In this piece, local writer and artist Nancy Cook reflects on a collaboration between the MSP LTER, YO MAMA!, and The Witness Project, that brings researchers and writers together to reimagine how we talk about urban nature. Through shared field work, readings, and conversation, participants are discovering new ways of seeing—and telling stories about—the world around them.

Communicating Ecological Resilience Efforts Through Art & Science – At Crosby Farm Regional Park

Transition-red maple

July 24, 2023

Interviews with Leslie Brandt, Supervisory Climate Adaptation Specialist at the USDA Forest Service, and Willard Malebear, Jr., local Indigenous artist

Learn how a Twin Cities forest became the meeting point for climate science and Indigenous art in this pair of interviews. Leslie Brandt, a climate adaptation specialist with the USDA Forest Service and MSP LTER Urban Forests Team, takes us inside the Adaptative Silviculture for Climate Change (ASCC) study at Crosby Farm Regional Park. Then, Indigenous artist Willard Malebear, Jr. shares how he brought the project's silviculture treatments to life through original artwork—now on display as informational signage at the research site.

A Recipe for Restoration: How Biochar Plaster Could Help Transform a Former Superfund Site into a Neighborhood Pollinator Prairie

People sitting on grass.

December 15, 2025

By Leta Landucci, PhD Student in the University of Minnesota Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, and the MSP LTER Urban Contaminants Team

PhD student Leta Landucci shares how community members and researchers came together at St. Paul's Jameson-Front Lot, a former Superfund site, to test biochar plaster as a tool for weed suppression and soil restoration, with the goal of establishing a new pollinator garden. This project can serve as a model for reciprocal, community-engaged ecological research in the Twin Cities.

Surveys and Soirees: Documenting Tree Stewardship Across the Twin Cities

People standing in a field talking.

December 15, 2026

By Sally Donovan, PhD Candidate in the University of Minnesota Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, and the MSP LTER Urban Forests Team

For decades, scientists have studied how biodiversity influences resilience—the ability of an ecosystem to resist and recover from disturbances, such as drought and pest outbreaks. Yet forest resilience also relies on social variables, like the capacity of communities and governments to care for, or steward, them. This is particularly visible in urban forests where trees and vegetation are tightly packed against human-built infrastructure. In this piece, PhD candidate Sally Donovan shares her research mapping local stewardship networks to track their capacities to support resilient ecosystems.

Kimberly Boustead

Biography

Kimberly Boustead is a Minneapolis-based multi-disciplinary artist, graphic designer, and Master Naturalist with a focus on environment and education. She often works within local landscapes, using natural materials to begin conversations about the environment and ecosystems. She served as MSP LTER Artist-in-Residence from 2023-2025.

Connect with Kim:

Person making an art print with a dead fish.
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